Turbine engine.



N0. 693,946. Patented Feb. 25', |902. H. H. BOYGE.

TURBINE ENGINE. (Application med my as', 1901.)

(llo Modei.) '2 Sheets-Sheet l 2/ j. 47 9 i /0 I W/TNES INYENTOH M r/MM By i Arrow/Era;

No. 693,946. Patentsd Feh..25, |902.

- H. H. BUYCE.

T'unm; ENGINE. (Applicacion filed July 25, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

ym M2667@ UNITED "STATES Paf-ENT OFFICE.

HIRAM H. BOYCE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.`

TURBINE ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 693,946, dated February 25, 1.902.

Application media-Illy 25| 1901-A Serial No. 69,666. (No model.) y i l' I To a/ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HIRAM H. BOYOE, a citizen of the United States of America, and av resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Turbine Engines, of which the following isa specification.

The main object of my invention is to provide a turbine in which the driving-blades are so arranged as to avoid the necessity of having fixed guides, and thereby saving the en- Figure I is a vertical longitudinal section of a steam-turbine constructed according to my invention. i of the same along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a diagram in plan, showinga modified system of gearing adapted to. serve the same purpose as the bevel-gears shown in Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same. vertical longitudinal section of amoditication of the device shown in Fig. l. verse section through the oil-cup 33; and Fig. 7 is a vertical section of same, partly broken away. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the form of bushing used within the casing, and Fig. 9 lis a section of the same.

In the form show'n the turbine is constructed as follows: A wheel lis axially mounted on a shaft 3 and rigidly secured to said shaft, s o as to revolve therewith. Asecond wheel 4 is axially mounted ou a hollow shaft 5, which in turn is loosely jourualed on the shaft 3. A series of annular rings 6, each composed of a series of blades or vanes '7, is secured to one face of the wheel l. A si milar series of bladerings 8 is secured to the adjacent face of the wheel 4. These rings of blades are so arranged that those on one wheel will nearly till the annular spaces between those on the other c The blades 7 on the wheel l are disj posed at an angle to the radial direction and yoppositely to the blades .9 on the wheel 4, as

-wheel.

shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section Fig. 5is a.`

Fig. isatrans-4 The supporting-frame of the turbine consists of a hollow shell surrounding the wheels and is preferably made in two parts lO and ll,'bolted together at the flanges l2 and resting on the legs 13. A shaft 3 is journaled centrally in the shell, and the bearings lare protected ny bushings and provided with oil-cups l4'and The bushings within the steamcasing are made with'holes passing through them,and these holes are packed with graphitek or other lubricant.

Steam is admitted'th rough the port l5, which leads to the annular passagelG iu the ring 17. The ring l' is integral with the shell lO and concentric with the shaft 3 and tit-s a deep au" i nular recess 18 in the hub 19 of the wheeljl. The ports 20 admit the steam from the space 16 to the passages between the blades. The exhaust-steam gathers in the spaces 2l, surrounding the wheels, and leaves the machine through the port 22.

The hollow shaft 5 extends beyond the bearing l5 and has rigidly secured at its endrthe bevel-gear 23. keyed tothe shaft 3. The bevel-pinions 34 are in mesh with both'of the gears 23 and 24 and are journaled to the arms48 on the frame 10. The member 25 spans the shaft 3 and supports the inner ends of the pinion-journals 45. The bolt 46 in the frame and the socket 47 in the wheel 4 serve as a clutch, whereb y said wheel may be locked. By locking the wheel 4 and disconnecting the pinions 34 from mesh with the other gears 23 and 24 the machine maybe reduced to half capacity. y I

Another system of .gearing for connecting the shafts 3 and 5 is shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the gears being represented by their pitch surfaces. These are spur-gears, and therefore avoid the longitudinal thrust which occurs when bevel-gears are used. The spur-gear 28 is secured to the endv of the hollow shaft 5. Another spur-gear 29, of the same diameter as the gear 2S, is secured to the shaftA 3 at such point that the distance between the adjacent faces of the gears 28 and 29 shall be slightly greater than the width of the rim of such gears. The gears 28 and 29 are connected by the gears 30 and 31, each of which is twice as wide as the gear 28, the gear 30 being in mesh with the gears 28 and 3l and the gear 3l be- Iing in mesh with the gear 29. In Fig. 4 the A similar bevel-gear 24 is IAOO `feeds oil to the surface of the shaft.

arrows indicate the direction of revolution of the gears having the same respective numbers.

A modified form of my turbine is shown in Fig. 5, in which the wheel 1 is secured to the shaft 3, as before, and the wheel 4 is secured t-o an independent shaft 35, which is in line with the shaft 3, their ends being separated by a bushing 36. It will be seen that the wheels 1 and 4 are entirely independent and that each of the shafts 3 and 35 may be used to drive entirely independent mechanism. The parts 36' and 37 indicate clutches, in which the parts 43 are secured against rotation, and the parts 44 are splined to the shafts and revoluble therewith. For simplicity the supports and the operating mechanism of the clutches are omitted inthe drawings. It will now be seen that by operating the clutch 37 the shaft 3 may be rigidly locked, and the blades of the wheel 1 will serve as fixed guides. In a similar way the operation of the clutch 36' will secure the wheel 4 against rotation.

The bearings at 33 in Fig. 1 are lubricated by the means indicated in Fig. 6. The bush ing 3S has a slot 39 cut in itsupper part, and the ring 32 rests in said slot upon the shaft 5, its lowerpart dipping into the oil in the bottom of the oil-cup. The rotation of the shaft 5 causes the ring 32 to roll, and thereby A number ot holes 40 are drilled through the shaft 5 in a slanting direction, as indicated, so that oil between the shaft 5 and bushing 38 is conducted to the adjacent surfaces of the shafts 5 and 3. A number ot' oil-grooves 41 are cut in the outer surfaces of the shafts 3 and 5, so as to distribute the oil throughout the length of the bearing.

Within the casing a special form of bushing is used, as the moving parts therein are not easily accessible for oiling. This bushing is shown in Figs. 8 and 9, and consists of a body of suitable material through which a number of holes 42 are drilled. These holes are packed with graphite, thus requiring attention only at long intervals.

The operation of my device is as follows: Steam is admitted through the port 15 to the passage 16, from which it is directed by the ports 2O against the first series of blades 7, being deected by them against thesecond series of blades 9, and so on to each successive ring until it arrives at the spaces 21, from which it is exhausted through the port 22. It will be seen from Fig. 2 that the wheel 1 will be driven in the direction of the arrow 26 and the wheel 4 will be driven in the direction of the arrow 27. It will be also seen that the steam in leaving one series of blades is immediatelydirected against the second series and that in this manner each series of blades serves as guides for the next series. In this way the loss of energy due to friction and impact of the steam upon the guides, as inthe old form of turbine with iixed guides, is avoided. As the steam expands and gradually loses its energy in its passage outwardly, this is the most eiiicient direction of flow, since the leverage increases as the pressure of the driving fluid decreases. The ports 20 occur at equal intervals on the circumference of the ring 17, leaving a considerable part of such circumference without openings, so that the steam will be cut o from the passages in the first blade-ring for a fraction of the revolution. In this way a high ratio of expansion of the steam is secured without use of an excessive number of blade-rings and the consequent increase of friction. In case the engine is used to drive independent machines, the form of engine shown in Fig. 5 could be used. L

It will be seen that numerous details of the device may be altered Without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore do not confine myself to such details, except as hereinafter limited in the claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a turbine, the combination of a pair of revolnble wheels each having thereon an annular series of blades, one of said series being located inwardly from the other,the blades of one wheel being concentric with but oppositely disposed to those of the other, one of said Wheels having an annular recess on one side of same, and a hollow ring seated in said recess, secured against rotation, and having in its periphery an opening through which a stream of Huid may be caused to flow against said blades, thereby causing said wheels to revolve in opposite directions, a considerable portion of the periphery of said ring being without opening so that the supply of iiuid will be cut oit from each of the blades of the inner series during a considerable part of each revolution.

2. In a turbine, the combination of a frame; a pair of wheels journaled on a common axis in said frame and revoluble in opposite directions; a series of blade-rings disposed between said wheels and secured alternately to opposite wheels, each of said blade-rings comprising an annular series of blades disposed at an angle to the radial direction, the blades On one wheel being disposed opp'ositely to those on the other; one of said wheels having an annular recess on oneside of same; a hollow ring seated in said recess, secu red to said frame and having in its outer periphery an opening through which a stream of Huid may be caused to dow against said blades, thereby causing said wheels to revolve in opposite directions, a considerable portion of the periphery of said ring'beingwithout opening so that the supply of fluid will be cut off from each of the blades ot the inner series during a considerable part of each revolution.

Signed at Chicago this 20th day ot' July,

HIRAM H. BOYCE. Witnesses:

EUGENE A. RUMMLER, GLEN C. STEPHENS.

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